The major goals of this core were to establish a core facility for the high content analysis of neurons and neural networks.
The aim was started with high content cellular imaging systems from BD biosciences to capture fluorescence images of cells in 96 and 384 well format as necessary for morphology based shRNA and drug screens. Since then we have significantly expanded the imaging resources with the addition of an Olympus VS120 slide scanning microscope, a Leica laser capture microdissection system, an Olympus Viva View environmental time lapse imaging microscope, and a home built selective plane imaging microscope (SPIM). With these technologies the core has the capabilities to analyze cells and circuits at a wide range of spatiotemporal resolutions in order to reveal their anatomical organization as well as the relationship between cellular content and function. The major goals have not changed but the capabilities have been expanded via the acquisition of the components described above.